CLAIM
A viral video which shows a bunch of men standing and talking about mosques being shut due to the coronavirus pandemic is being circulated on social media with a claim that ‘Jihadis’ are warning that they will not listen to the government’s instructions.
Several social media users are sharing the video on Facebook and Twitter with the same claim.
TRUE OR FALSE?
While the incident did happen, but the video is not from India. Rather, it’s from Pakistan and the man seen in the video is Mufti Kifayatullah, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), who has now been arrested after he attended funeral of one Maulana Abdul Aziz.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We found a tweet that mentioned that the man in the video is JUI-F’s Mufti Kifayatullah. We then searched on Twitter and found tweets by journalists who claimed that the man is indeed Mufti Kifayatullah and the video is from Pakistan.
We then searched on YouTube with keywords “mufti kifayatullah funeral” and found 04:05-minute-long video uploaded by “Mufti Kifayatullah Official” on 7 April with the title ‘Mufti Kifayatullah position regarding the closure of mosques under the cover of corona.’
In the video, the leader begins by saying that he will talk about two topics: corona and funeral.
While this video has been shot from a different angle, the JUI-F leader can be heard saying the same thing as in the viral video at from 02:35 minutes onwards. We also found some visual similarities in the viral video and the YouTube one.
Also, a green building can be seen in both the videos and the window pane is also similar in structure in both.
We also found an article published by a Pakistan based media outlet Naya Daur on Wednesday, 15 April, that mentioned that the JUI-F leader was arrested in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s district Mansehra for attending a mass funeral, even though the Pakistani government have imposed restrictions on public gatherings. Although this is a different gathering, the fact that the JUI-F leader was arrested in Pakistan makes it evident that the cleric was in Pakistan.
We found another report by 24 News HD that, too, corroborated with the aforementioned details and mentioned that the JUI-F leader was returning back after attending funeral of Maulana Abdul Aziz.
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